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Guide to Practice Activities
& Released Testlets
2014-15
DLM has prepared two practice activities and many released testlets to support educators
and students preparing for testing.
• The practice activities are designed to familiarize users with the way testlets look
in the KITE system. One is for teachers and the other is for students.
• The released testlets are similar to the real DLM testlets in content and format.
Practice activities and released testlets are accessed through KITE in the practice section.
Using login information provided in this guide, both types of activities can be completed as
many times as desired.
Some released testlets will also be available in PDF format on the “Information for
Parents” page on the DLM website by November 1, 2014. KITE does not have to be
installed on a computer to view these items.
If you have questions or technical problems with the practice activities or released testlets,
please contact the Help Desk at 1-855-277-9751 (toll-free) or DLM-support@ku.edu. The
Help Desk is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central Time.
Teacher Practice Activity
The teacher practice activity is a tutorial about testlets that are administered directly by
the teacher. Teacher-administered testlets are used when:
• the content is difficult to assess on the computer or
• the student has presymbolic communication and cannot interact directly with the
computer.
In this type of testlet, teachers read the instructions on the screens and follow them. They
enter the student’s responses to activities or exchanges that occur outside the system.
Most of these testlets require teachers to gather materials to be used in the assessment.
Directions for how to prepare for the testlet are provided as “educator directions” on the
first screen(s).
Users may go forward and backward within a testlet as much as needed before submitting
the answers.
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Student Practice Activity
The student practice activity is a tutorial about testlets that are administered directly to
the student. Student-administered testlets are used when:
• the content can be assessed directly by computer, AND
• the student can interact with the system directly and select his or her own answer,
using assistive devices or other supports as needed.
Students may navigate using a mouse, tab and enter on a keyboard, or with switches. If the
student can engage with the content but cannot advance the screens or input answers
independently, the teacher may navigate the screens and record the student’s answers on
his or her behalf. More information about allowable practices is provided in the TEST
ADMINISTRATION MANUAL.
There are several types of items in the student practice activity:
• multiple-choice items, in which the student selects one or more correct answers.
• sorting items, in which the student selects and moves objects from one place to
another. Some items require the student to click the selection and the destination.
Others require students to drag and drop an image. Students who use switches may
need help navigating some of these screens.
• matching items, in which the student identifies how pairs of items are related to one
another.
Students may go forward and backward within a testlet as much as needed before
submitting answers.
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Released Testlets
Released testlets are similar to real testlets. They are selected from a variety of Essential
Elements and linkage levels across grades 3 through high school. New released testlets are
added periodically.
Remember that testlets contain items that align to nodes at the designated linkage level.
The linkage levels are:
• Initial Precursor (IP)
• Distal Precursor (DP)
• Proximal Precursor (PP)
• Target (T)
• Successor (S)
Testlets administered by teachers are typically at the Initial Precursor linkage level. All
writing testlets are also administered by teachers. Computer-delivered testlets are typically
at the other four linkage levels.
In KITE, released testlets are labeled by their subject, Essential Element, and linkage level.
To view the Essential Elements, linkage levels, and nodes used in 2014-15 tests, look for
the Educator Resource Page which is listed as a resource on your DLM state page.
The following sections describe the step-by-step procedure to access the practice activities
and released testlets.
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Student Accounts For Practice Activities And Released Testlets
Practice activities and released testlets are available through several practice student
accounts.
Each practice student has been given certain Access (Personal Needs and Preferences
(PNP)) Profile settings as described in the ACCESSIBILITY MANUAL. These features are
summarized in the table below.
Each of the practice students listed below is enrolled in all available practice activities and
released testlets.
Name
demo.sue28
Password
sand3
PNP features turned on
Spoken audio: voice source = synthetic, read at start = false,
spoken preference = text and graphics, audio for directions
only = false.
Contrast color:
None*
Switch: scan speed = 4 seconds, auto scan = manual override,
auto repeat scan frequency = infinity
demo.sue31
topic
2x magnification
demo.sue33
void7
4x magnification and reverse contrast
demo.sue34
nine7
Color overlay (green)
demo.sue35
jar71
Switch: scan speed = 5 seconds, initial delay = 5 seconds, auto
repeat scan frequency = 2
demo.sue36
stop3
Spoken audio: voice source = synthetic, read at start = false,
spoken preference = NonVisual, audio for directions only =
false.
demo.sue37
after
5x magnification
*No special settings are required for two-switch users. Use Tab to navigate, and Enter to
select.
demo.sue29
demo.sue30
wall3
swept
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Accessing the Practice Activities and Released Testlets
The KITE client must be installed before you can access practice activities or released
testlets. Download information is available on the KITE & Educator Portal page of the
Dynamic Learning Maps website http://dynamiclearningmaps.org/content/kite.
To access the DLM practice activities and released testlets, follow these steps:
1. Click the KITE Client icon on the testing device.
2. Click Other Assessments.
3. Enter the practice student’s Username and Password; click Sign In.
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4. Click Practice First.
5. Click Take a Test for the desired practice activity or released testlet.
6. Click Begin.
7. Continue with the testlet, navigating using the BACK and NEXT buttons. To stop in the
middle of a testlet, use the EXIT DOES NOT SAVE button.
8. To try a different student profile or a different released testlet or practice activity, either
complete a test or use the EXIT DOES NOT SAVE button to return to the welcome screen.
Then Sign Out and sign back in with a different username and password.
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